Vancouver restaurant addresses pick-up surcharge that sent the internet into a frenzy
The cost of eating is truly getting out of control, and one Reddit user posted that they had to pay to pick up their takeout order.
Ouch.
The Reddit thread showed that the user was charged a one-dollar pick-up fee at Olympia Pizza.
Is “pick up surcharge” really a thing now?
byu/vanlanka invancouver
The restaurant clarified in a call with Daily Hive that the charge was a “bag fee” for their paper bags and boxes and that the wording on the website was incorrect.
The restaurant said they have since taken the surcharge off the website and will charge the bag fee separately. Daily Hive started to place an order online and confirmed that the surcharge no longer comes up on the website.
The bylaws for single-use items in Vancouver state that businesses should charge $0.25 per paper shopping bag and $2 per new reusable shopping bag.
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Unfortunately, the Olympia Pizza didn’t manage to clarify the surcharge before Reddit users kicked off in the comments section of the thread.
People were not happy with the notion of having to pay to go and collect takeout food. The original user even commented that it’s not about the amount of money but “the principle.”
Many people in the comments expressed that they would leave their order there if they had to pay for pick-up.
“I would leave it on the counter and walk out,” one user wrote.
Another user echoed that sentiment.
“If they didn’t tell me that when I ordered it I’d be telling them to go f**k themselves and leaving it there,” they said.
Other users said they wouldn’t support a business if it implemented a pick-up fee.
“What a complete joke. I will never patronize a business that does this,” shared one user. “If I’m making the trip to pick up my own food, I shouldn’t owe anything more than the menu price.”
Instead of expressing their anger at the mistaken surcharge, some people reminisced on the discounts that takeout collection used to bring.
“Remember when Pick Up used to get you 10% OFF?” said one user.
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While Olympia Pizza has since clarified the poorly worded fee, these aren’t the first complaints about rising restaurant costs. One restaurant faced severe backlash after having an automatic tip added to its bills.
With Canada already having the second-highest tipping rate in the world, we best hope that pick-up surcharges don’t actually become a thing.
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